A saying in the United Kingdom goes, “one would wait for hours for a bus and then two suddenly turn up at the same time.” We are at that point in the battle of the Sussexes against the gutter press.
As the gutter press and their apologists were lamenting over Wednesday’s balast from the Duke and the Duchess claiming her copyright, tonight, the Duke added the vile and untrustworthy the “muckracker” Sun and the slimy Daily Mirror to their litigation list.
The Duke has filed High Court summons suing those two newspapers for phone tapping. We would know a bit more as the days go by. That goes to show those so-called “experts” who have been tearing their hair out about the earlier legal announcement in South Africa were totally wrong.
One such person, who wrote a book about Prince Charles, with his support during the battle of the Wales’ in the mid-nineties, got her bit in early to say the Queen would not have approved of what the Duke said about the awful lying gutter press and the Duchess suing for copyright infringement.
Perhaps this retired journalist thought because the condemnation and the announcement of the litigation took place in South Africa, the Sussexes might have fouled the Monarch’s fine sensibilities. It is surprising that all these commentators are not remotely considered as members of the Royal Family, yet they know what the Monarch thinks and feels on particular subjects and events.
If one wrote an “authorised book” about Prince Charles twenty six years ago, that does not make one the Monarch’s confidant. If this woman is Prince Charles confidant or friend, she would have been invited to the Duke and Duchess’ Royal Wedding last year. She was not and ended up as a paid guest commentator for one of the US TV networks covering the wedding. As most Americans do not know or understand the intricacies of the Royal Family, that woman fed a lot of nonsense to those watching.
So today Friday, the Sussexes barely twenty-four hours after putting down their bags, the Duke is suing those two gutter newspapers and announced by Buckingham Palace. That does not mean the Monarch sanctioned the announcement. Remember, the Sussexes have their office and staff at Buck House. What it does mean is that the Duke and Duchess are in charge of their lives and future. It proved that the old journalist and all those who have made snide comments or written guff about the Duke’s condemnation and suing the Gutter on Sunday were wrong. The coming days would tell us the extent of the phone tapping and when they took place.
I am glad that we are having decent conversations about my observations across the mass media in the United Kingdom. There are some broadsheet (serious) newspapers, although conservative, have tried to present a balanced picture of the Duchess, but failed terribly. It is not their official policy to harass her, but have given their columnists carte blanche to attack her sometimes. Their fashion pages, though, write positive articles about her. The conservative newspapers claim to be royalists, yet do not stretch that loyalty to the Duchess.
One would think the Guardian a broadsheet (serious), left of centre newspaper would stay out and not support the Duchess. The paper does not support the Royal Family. They do not even have royal reporters as the others do. However, all their female journalists always write to defend her from the conservative scums.
But the print media is losing readers badly anyway. That is why they are now concentrating on online news. As one of the Sussex squad army said, one of the best ways to hit their resources, is to interfere with their advertising revenues. Any number of interventions would help with the battles ahead.
I do think I have to respond to one of the responses to my last piece. For an old black Brit living in the United Kingdom, I was very careful to make the point that we should avoid making a solely black support for the Duchess. As I said, whilst there are many black supporters in the United Kingdom, the overwhelming support, from Northern Ireland to Wales, are white Brits. They have been since 2017. They defend her on some television programmes, radio and newspaper comments. One would think, because of the noises off; there is no support from white Brits There is and in the majority.
I have to go back to the oft comment that the Monarch and Prince Charles should make declarations in public of their support for the Duchess. The Monarch does not usually do that, not even for her children. She would offer advice and support in private if she is asked and assuming she follows what the gutter press and some good for nothing trolls do on social media, which I doubt very much.
Prince Charles is very close to his daughter in law, but issuing a public statement to call for a ceasefire from the gutter press, would be counterproductive. He would only advice that she stays strong and continue with what she is doing. After all, what crime has she committed? In my sincere view, the smart way forward is what the Sussexes have embarked on – take the battle to their enemies with the help of friends like the Sussex squaddies and the law.
Journalists in the UK are more reprehensible than politicians. With our support, the battle would be won. Three gutter newspapers have been sued, who knows when others would follow.